The Quidditch World Cup
by JacquelineHyde114
Summary: The Weasleys' story of the Quidditch World Cup in the Goblet of Fire.
1. The Burrow

Disclaimer – Harry Potter characters Not mine.

BANG!

Molly Weasley didn't even jump as an explosion sounded upstairs from the direction of her twin sons' room. She was quite used to this by now. They had spent nearly all summer locked away in their room, and until a few weeks ago, Molly couldn't figure out why. Then she discovered stacks of price lists, all containing prices for joke items, pieces of useless rubbish if you asked her. She was already grumpy enough with 16-year-olds Fred and George for only receiving 3 O.W.L.s each. Both Bill and Percy had received 12! Charlie had received 9, but 3? That was genuinely unacceptable. Now they were throwing away the best years of their lives, trying to start up some stupid joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Molly just didn't know what she was going to do with them. But confronting them about any more "inventions" would have to come later.

"Fred! George! Ron! Ginny! Supper's ready!" She called upstairs. Ron and Ginny came bounding downstairs immediately.

"Is Dad home yet?" Ron asked.

"No, he's still at work." Molly answered, looking at her enchanted clock.

"Oh he has to get here!" Ron said excitedly. "The Quidditch World Cup is a week from tonight and he HAS to get the tickets!"

"England won't be there." Ginny pointed out.

"So? It's a once in a lifetime opportunity! And Viktor Krum will be playing!"

"Who?" Molly asked. She wasn't quite as up-to-date in the Quidditch world as her 14-year-old son.

"Victor Krum! The Bulgarian Seeker! One of the very best! He's really young too, but amazing!" Ron practically gushed.

"Thank you." Fred said as he and George clamored downstairs.

"What?" Ron asked eyeing him strangely.

"We just appreciate the fact that you think so much of us." George said.

"Whatever. I was talking about Krum." Ron told his older brothers.

"Oh yeah! Quidditch World Cup in a week!" George said grinning.

"Do you think Dad managed to get the tickets?" Fred asked.

"Oh he has to! We can't miss the Cup!" Ron said.

"Well, you can ask him in a few seconds." Molly said, serving them supper and pointing to the clock. Mr. Weasley's hand had moved from 'Work' to 'Traveling.' There was a CRACK from outside and Mr. Weasley walked in the door. There was an instant uproar.

"DAD!"

"DID YOU GET THEM?"

"WHERE ARE THE TICKETS?"

"ARE WE GOING?"

"ARE THEY GOOD SEATS?"

"PLEASE SAY YOU GOT THEM!"

"Children! Children! Please! Calm down." Arthur looked somewhat startled after being so heavily bombarded with questions. Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny just stared at their father waiting for him to tell them something, anything. They didn't even notice their older brother Percy coming through the door.

"What a day." Percy said with the air of someone incredibly important talking about another exhausting day at work. "Mr. Crouch wants the report on cauldron bottoms proofread, edited, and rewritten, then edited again by next week." No one, not even Molly, heard him as they were all still staring expectantly at Arthur.

"What?" He asked.

"You know perfectly well what Dad." Ron said.

"Did you get the tickets?" Fred asked. Mr. Weasley just smiled. Fred, George, and Ron immediately jumped up and started dancing around the room.

"HE GOT THEM!"

"YES! YES! YES!"

"_WE'RE GOING TO THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP!_"

"Box seats as well. Ludo Bagman managed to arrange for us the best seats in the house!" Arthur said with a grin.

"I have to owl Harry and Hermione!" Ron said excitedly. "Box seats at the Quidditch World Cup! They'll never – wait." He looked at his father. "Harry and Hermione can come right?"

Mr. Weasley chuckled. "Of course, son, of course! I'm owling Bill and Charlie tonight as well. We can't have them miss this! Especially Charlie. He's wanted to see the Quidditch World Cup since the first time we put him on a broomstick!"

"Ok now everyone let's settle down." Molly said, mostly to Fred, George, and Ron who were still dancing around the small dining area.

"Mum, how on earth can you expect us to settle down?" Fred asked his mother.

"We're going to the Quidditch World Cup!"

"Yes, I believe that has been established George, but supper's getting cold." Molly said. The rest of supper was filled with excited chatter about the upcoming World Cup.

As soon as dinner was over, Ron rushed up to his room to write to Harry and Hermione. Fred and George walked up to their room as well, innocently as possible. Percy went to start working on his precious report. Ginny helped Molly clean up in the kitchen and Arthur wrote notes to his two eldest sons.

"Molly dear?"

"Yes Arthur?"

"I need your opinion. What do you think Errol's chances are of making it to Egypt?"

"Not good." She told him.

"Yes, that's what I thought." He thought for a second. "I suppose Percy could let me borrow Hermes."

"Hermes can make it to Egypt, no problem, but what about Romania? That owl cannot fly to Egypt and then all the way to Romania without having to come back." Molly said.

"If Ron hasn't sent his letters yet, maybe I can borrow his new owl, Piggy-Fidget or whatever its name is."

"Pigwidgeon." Ginny corrected from the kitchen.

"Ah yes. That one." Mr. Weasley walked up the stairs to his children's rooms. He stopped first at Percy's room. Percy agreed to let Arthur borrow Hermes as long as no one distracted him.

"Mr. Crouch is counting on me!" He said.

Convincing Ron was a bit harder.

"But Dad, I was going to send my letters tonight! I want Harry and Hermione to get here early! I haven't seen them all summer."

"I know son, but we haven't seen your brothers since last year when we all went down to Egypt and I think it would be nice if they could spend a few days with us." Arthur said. While Ron wanted to see Harry and Hermione more than anything, he also missed Bill and Charlie a lot.

"Ok. You can borrow Pig." Ron said.

"Thanks." Arthur turned to leave, but then stopped and turned back around. "I thought Ginny said it's name was-"

"It's a dumb name. He's Pig." Ron said.


	2. Bill

"Bill! Over here! I need some help!" Bill heard Rahul call to him, somewhere from his left. It was hard to see in the dark tomb, but breaking curses in the dark was wiser, though not easier, than breaking them in the light. Darkness meant it would be harder to be spotted by ghostly guardians and minions that lurked about the tombs. Pushing a lock of his long red hair out of his eyes, Bill rushed off to help his friend.

"Where are you?" Bill hissed as he walked right into him.

"Right here." Rahul said sarcastically.

"Sorry." They two worked silently on trying to figure out how to break the curse. Finally, after about 10 minutes, the curse was lifted and Bill and Rahul found themselves looking down at piles of gold and jewels, illuminated by Bill's wand, worth well over a million Galleons.

"Jackpot!" Bill said cheerfully. He and Rahul started loading the treasure into the sacks they had slung over their shoulders. They exchanged a high five once all the treasure was collected. "Let's get out of here. I'm starving." Bill said.

Back at their flat, they decided to order their favorite Muggle fast food: pizza. In the time they were waiting, they showered and changed into something comfortable. After 20 minutes, Bill was beginning to get impatient.

"Argh! Where is it?" He grumbled.

"It should be here soon." Rahul told him.

"It had better. I'm so hungry I could eat a Hippogriff and still be hungry!" Bill complained. They heard a rap on the door. "Finally!" Bill cried. He went to open the door, but much to his despair, it was not the pizza man.

"Hermes?" Bill looked at his brother's owl in shock. "What are you doing here? Is everything ok?" The owl hooted as Bill took the letter. All thoughts about his empty stomach vanished as he read his father's words: _We're going to the Quidditch World Cup! Hoping you can come down as soon as you receive this! Love – Dad_. Bill whooped with joy.

"What?" Rahul asked.

"Rahul my friend, I am going to see the Quidditch World Cup!" Bill practically squealed with delight.

"Not fair!" Rahul gasped. Bill was smiling uncontrollably.

"I'll have to make sure with Mystika that it's ok."

"Oh I'm sure it will be. You know what a fan he is! He'll be just as jealous, if not more so, than I am!"

"Dad wants me to come home as soon as I can. I haven't seen any of my family since last year." Bill said.

"I liked your family. They were very nice. I especially liked your twin brothers. They were funny." Rahul said.

"They're annoying. They are loud 100 of the time and are always pulling pointless pranks on people. But what do I care? I just pity the poor girls who agree to marry them!" Bill and Rahul laughed.

"I remember your mother wasn't too pleased to see that you wore your hair in a ponytail."

"Oh shoot." Bill said, looking a bit scared.

"What?"

"Mum hasn't seen my earring yet, nor does she know about it." Rahul laughed. "It's not funny! She's gonna kill me!"

"Bill, you're 23! You're allowed to have long hair and earrings!"

"You don't know my mum too well."


	3. Charlie

Charlie Weasley emerged from the steamy bathroom, hair still dripping from his shower, dressed in pajama pants and a tank top that showed off his muscular upper body. He walked out to the living area of the flat he shared with his best friend Jeffrey, collapsed on the couch, and closed his eyes. Jeffrey, who was snacking on leftover take-out Chinese food in the kitchen, yelled, "Finally! I swear to Merlin, you take forever in the shower!"

"Yeah, yeah." Charlie muttered back, too exhausted to say much more. Every night they had this argument. Whoever showered second always nagged the first about how long they took. Then the second person to shower would always take twice as long as the first. Jeffrey walked into the living room with a container of rice in one hand, and chopsticks in another.

"Want some?" He asked. Charlie opened one eye, looked at him, and closed it again.

"No thanks."

"Are you sure? Food's always better a day later."

"You know, I don't see how you can eat so much and stay so skinny. We already had dinner!"

"Yeah, but I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry."

"Guilty. So did Norbert give you a hard time today? Or are you just still moping because England lost to Transylvania?"

"I'm not moping, I just think that England could have put on a better performance than they did. 390 to 10 is a bit unacceptable…not to mention humiliating."

"Yeah." Jeffrey agreed through a mouthful of rice. "I hope Pierre gets back soon. You're no fun to bother when you're this tired." Pierre, who usually worked with Charlie, was away visiting his girlfriend in Paris, so Charlie had been doing a lot of extra work by himself.

"I'm sorry." Said Charlie, not sounding sorry in the least bit.

"You're forgiven." As Jeffrey finished off the last bit of rice, they heard a pelt against their window. Jeffrey looked up from his Chinese and Charlie propped himself up on one elbow.

"What was that?" Charlie asked.

"No idea." After a pause, whatever it was begin scratching at the window.

"Is it – is it an owl?" Asked Charlie.

"I don't know. Why don't you get your lazy self up off the couch and go see." Charlie heaved a pillow at him, but stood up and walked over to the window and opened it. Something resembling a gray, feathery tennis ball began zooming around the room. "Woah! Calm that thing down!"

"How?" But shortly after the question had been established, the owl grew tired and pulled a not-so-graceful landing right onto Jeffrey's lap.

"Hey! Watch it!" He told the owl. He looked at the letter. "Something for you." He said, holding it out to Charlie. Charlie read the note, blinked twice, and read it again. "What?" Jeffrey asked. Charlie turned to him, with a huge grin on his face, and said excitedly,

"My dad got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup!"

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yes! Oh Merlin. Do you know how long I have wanted to see the World Cup?" Charlie looked as though he had just won a million Galleons.

"When is it?"

"Monday, but Dad said that he wanted me to come down as soon as I could. I can understand. I mean, I haven't seen any of my family since last summer in Egypt."

"Yeah, that's a pretty long time." Jeffrey said. "Do you reckon you can get time off with Pierre gone too?"

"Oh, you all can manage." Charlie said excitedly.


	4. Family Reunion

The next day was an exciting day at the Burrow. Molly was rushing about making sure the house looked nice for when Bill and Charlie got home. It was now Wednesday. Ron had sent Pig off with a letter to Hermione and was hoping he would get back soon so he could send one to Harry. Around noon, Bill arrived with all of his luggage.

"Bill! Oh my baby!" Molly cried as she through her arms around her eldest son. "How are you? It's so good to see you! I've missed – WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR EAR!" Bill gulped.

"An earring Mum."

"When did you get an earring?" Molly asked harshly.

"Last month…"

"WILLIAM ARTHUR WEASLEY YOU WAIT UNTIL YOUR FATHER SEES THIS! HE WILL POSITIVELY HIT THE ROOF!"

"Hey Bill."

"So what did you do to infuriate Mum this time?" Fred and George had just come down to greet their brother.

"I – er…"

"Woah! Cool earring!"

"Nice! I think we should get some Fred!"

"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Absolutely not what?" Asked Charlie who was walking up the sidewalk towards the Burrow.

"Charlie! How are you dear?" Molly asked rushing over to hug her other son. "Let me look at you. You haven't got any foul artificial body holes do you?"

"Not at the moment." Charlie replied. "Why?" He looked at Bill. "Hey Bill! Woah! Cool earring!" He grinned.

"Thanks! George just said that exact same thing." Bill went over to give his brother a hug.

"Actually I would be Fred." Fred corrected him.

"Oh whatever."

"Oh, it's so wonderful to see you again! Now let's get your things upstairs. You'll be staying Fred and George's room while-"

"What? Wait a second." Fred started.

"Yeah, why were we not informed of this?" George added

"You were. You were just too intrigued in your grotesque little inventions to pay attention to what was being said to you." Molly snapped at them.

"Fine. But where are we sleeping? The garden?" Fred asked.

"Of course not. You'll be rooming with Ron."

"Ooh! Rooming with Ickle Ronniekins! This could be fun…"

"George! I forbid you to experiment on your brother in any way, shape, form, or matter! You too Fred!"

"Darn it." The twins muttered under their breaths. They escorted Bill and Charlie up to their room (although they already knew perfectly well where it was, but Fred and George wanted to have a word with them). Bill and Charlie seemed speechless when they saw the twin's room. Both stood staring, mouths slightly open, at the horrendous mess.

"Is this a room or a dump?" Bill asked.

"Hey, this is tidy!" George sounded offended.

"You've obviously never heard of organized chaos." Fred said.

"Does the mess just occur on its own or will you burst into flames if your feet actually touch real ground?" Charlie remarked.

"Fine! If you two are going to whine about it, we'll get Mum to clean it." Fred said.

"No need." Bill said and with a flick of his wand, the room was clean.

"Nice." George said admiringly. "But down to business."

"Business?" Charlie asked.

"Yep. My good mate George and I have spent the last 6 months of our young lives, finding ways to express our more creative sides." Fred said.

"The last six months? Try sixteen years." Bill said.

"In other words," Fred continued, ignoring his brother, "we have been inventing."

"Now we know that many of our things seem quite impressive and you might find yourselves fighting the desire to-"

"Just get to the point." Charlie said.

"DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!" Fred and George practically yelled at them. Bill and Charlie looked slightly taken aback.

"Wow, usually it's the older brothers telling the younger brothers not to touch anything." Bill commented.

"Yeah, well, times change Bill old boy." Fred said.

"Fred just called me old." Bill whined jokingly to Charlie who smiled sympathetically at his brother.

"A few more things." George said. "That ghoul in the attic still hasn't gone away so any strange noises, that's what that is."

"Anything suspicious-looking you may find in the next few days is to be ignored and left alone." Fred said.

"Oh, and any strange smells, well…you'll get used to them." George concluded. Bill and Charlie just stared at them.

After quite an enjoyable dinner (though with a bit of argument over Bill's earring), Bill and Charlie made themselves feel quite at home. After playing a bit of Quidditch with Ron, Fred, and George, they went upstairs to shower. After changing, they came back downstairs to spend more time with their family. Fred and George, for once, had not disappeared into their room since it was occupied and Molly had threatened to take away their World Cup privileges if they isolated themselves any longer. Arthur and Percy (who had worked through dinner) walked in the door as the rest of the Weasleys were crowding into their small living room. Bill and Charlie got up to greet them.

"Hello boys! So good to see you!" Arthur said as he hugged his sons.

"Good evening." Percy said, sounding as though he had never seen them in his life. "I'll be up in my room for the rest of the night. Lot of work to be done." And with that he disappeared upstairs.

"Hasn't changed a bit." Bill muttered.

"Well, let's have a look at you boys." Arthur said, turning back to Bill and Charlie.

"Look a little closer at Bill's ear." Molly said disapprovingly.

"Why Molly dear? Oh! What have we here?" Mr. Weasley looked impressed.

"Well? Don't you have something to say to him?" Molly asked.

"Well, I remember I always wanted one-"

"Arthur!"

"Oh, I mean…erm…Molly, what do you want me to say?"

"Oh never mind. Tonight is supposed to be a night that we're happy we're all together. I don't want to argue about it anymore tonight." Bill looked relieved. "But don't think you're off the hook William!" All the Weasley children (save Bill) snickered. Bill, Charlie, and Mr. Weasley went to have a seat on the couch.

"So, how are your jobs?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Fun." Bill said.

"Exciting but exhausting." Charlie said.

"Why do you say that? They're not working you too hard are they?" Molly looked concerned.

"Oh no. It's just that we've been a person short for a bit and my boss decided I could handle some things by myself that others would need a partner for." Charlie explained.

"Well, you're not exactly a weakling, Bro." Bill told him, eyeing his brother's muscular arms. "Ow, where'd that come from?" He asked, pointing to a large, shiny burn on Charlie's right arm.

"Oh. Marshmallow."

"Marshmallow?" Bill said blankly.

"Yep. Marshmallow."

"Who in the world would name a dragon Marshmallow?" Ron asked.

"Gabby." Charlie said disgustedly.

"Oh, that really annoying girl who had a crush on Bill?" Fred asked.

"Yeah. She's still trying to get me to set you guys up."

"Please, don't give me that honor." Bill pleaded.

"Don't worry. I'm not that cruel."

"Charlie, let me see that burn." Molly said.

"Mum, it's fine! I've had it since December. Besides, it's not even a burn anymore. Just a scar."

"I just want to see it." Charlie groaned, but held out his arm to his mother. "I don't like the way that looks. You are careful out there, aren't you dear?"

"Yes Mum." Charlie said. They had had this discussion about a million times since Charlie had started working in Romania.

"Haha, now you're getting nagged!" Bill teased.

"Be quiet or I'll sic Marshmallow on you."

"That sounds like you're talking about a kitten or something!" Bill laughed.

"I know."

"Hey Charlie, how's Norbert?" Ron asked, suddenly remember the baby dragon he, Harry, and Hermione had helped Hagrid hatch in 1st year.

"Who's Norbert?" Molly asked.

"One of our dragons." Charlie replied. "He's doing fine. Not exactly easy to cope with when he's hungry though."

"How does Ron know Norbert?" Molly asked. Ron had chosen not to talk about all the adventures he and his friends had at Hogwarts because he knew his mother would go into pure hysteria if she knew, for example, he had stood inside the Shrieking Shack with an escaped believed-to-be murderer and a werewolf just a few months ago.

"He-"

"Charlie told me about him last year." Ron interrupted catching Charlie's eye.

"Yeah." Charlie said.

"Oh. Well, what is he?"

"A dragon." Ron said.

"Yes, I'm aware of that dear. What breed?"

"Oh. A Norwegian Ridgeback." Ron replied.

"Those are dangerous aren't they?" Molly looked a bit scared. "Oh Charlie, please tell me you're careful out there."

"I am, don't worry Mum."

"OK." She still looked uneasy though.

"Bill, how's Egypt?" Ginny asked.

"It's awesome. Rahul and I found about a million Galleons in gold just before Dad's letter came."

"Wow." Ginny and Ron both looked impressed.

SQUAWK!

6 of the Weasleys jumped at the noise. They then turned their attentions to Fred and George who sitting by the fire, eyes wide, with oops-that-wasn't-supposed-to-happen looks plastered on their faces. Fred also happened to be holding a rubber chicken.

"What do you two have?" Molly asked.

"Nothing." Fred and George replied.

"Give it to me."

"Mum come on! We're not 2!"

"Prove it. Give that chicken to me."

"It's not JUST a chicken." Fred said.

"Yeah! It's a wand! A JOKE wand!" George said proudly.

"What did I tell you about inventing all that prank rubbish?" Molly asked sternly.

"But Mum-"

"No buts Fredrick. Give it to me." Reluctantly, Fred handed the chicken to his mother. No one saw him give George a wink that said, 'Very convincing! She has no idea we have a whole box-full hidden under your bed!'

Later that night, Ron was trying to figure out how he was expected to survive the next few days, having to room with Fred and George. They were particularly noisy, not to mention nosey.

"Hey Fred! Come here and look at this!"

"Ooh, I didn't know Ickle Ronnie kept a diary!"

"A what? I don't keep a diary!"

"What's this then?"

"Give me that!" Ron grabbed his diary out of the clutches of his twin brothers, who were snickering uncontrollably. "Why are you two going through my stuff anyway? It's not like you've never been up here before."

"Yeah, but it's much more fun when we know that you know that like it or not, you're stuck with us for the next couple of days." Ron rolled his eyes and flopped onto his bed.

"I hope Pig gets back soon." He said without thinking about it.

"Why?" George asked, though uninterestedly, as he and Fred were still busy going through Ron's things.

"Because I want to know if Hermione can come." Fred and George froze. "I also want to write to Harry." Ron added. Fred and George turned around and looked at Ron, evil grins on their identical freckled faces.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh." They both said as if they had just unveiled some great secret.

"What?" Ron asked.

"That is just so cute!" Fred said gleefully.

"What is?" Said Ron.

"Positively precious." George agreed.

"What?"

The twins looked at each other. "Ickle Ronniekins has a crush on Hermione!" They said together.

"WHAT?" Ron looked positively appalled. "No I do not!"

"Denial." Fred said, shaking his head.

"I do NOT like Hermione! She's one of my best friends!"

"As were Mum and Dad when they were at Hogwarts." George said knowingly.

"How do you know that?" Ron asked.

"It is the knowledge that comes with being older brothers." Fred said. "So when's the wedding?"

"Can I be your best man?" George asked, batting his eyelashes.

"There is not going to be a wedding! I don't have a crush on Hermione!"

"Why are you getting so worked up about it then?" Fred asked slyly. Ron scowled at him.

"Oh, Ickle Ronnie in love. He's growing up so fast!" George pretended to wipe away a tear.

"Seems like just yesterday he was running around the house in those Magic Touch Diapers he used to love so much." Fred said wistfully.

"No, that was you two." Ron said irritably.

"That's a bit below the belt, don't you think?" George asked.

"No, not really." Ron said truthfully. There was a few minutes silence.

"So can we be expecting Ronnie Jr. and Little Hermione anytime soon?"

"FOR THE LAST TIME! I – DON'T – LIKE – HERMIONE!"

"Who's Hermione?" Bill wondered. He and Charlie were standing at the door.

"Ron's girlfriend." Fred replied before Ron could say anything.

"She's not-"

"Ron, I didn't know you had a girlfriend!" Bill said with a grin.

"I don-"

"You'll meet her soon! She's probably coming to the Cup with us." George smirked.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Ron shouted.

"RON! WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN?" Percy bellowed from his room. Ron growled in frustration.

"Well, we just came in to say good night." Charlie said. "So good night."

"Night." Bill said to them as he and Charlie walked away.

"Don't do anything to our room!" Fred and George yelled after them.

"We won't!" They called back.

"Older brothers. You can never trust them." George said to Fred who nodded in agreement.

"You got that right." Grumbled Ron, glaring at them.

"No, not us Ron. We were talking about those other two."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather be rooming with them than with you two."

"Oh Ronnie, you don't mean that!"

"Yeah, actually I do."

"Just because you refuse to admit that you're hopelessly, head-over-heals in love with Hermione-"

"I'm NOT!"

"-gives you no reason to be cranky with us."

"That's it. I'm asking Mum if I can sleep on the couch."

"Oh Ronnie! No! That'd be no fun!" Fred whined.

"For you." Ron remarked as he stood up to leave.

"Oh no you don't. If we have to live without our precious room, you have to live without your precious privacy." George said as he and Fred shoved Ron back onto his bed. Even though Ron was taller than his brothers, they were buffer and stronger than he was.

"Now Ickle Ronniekins, you will stay there for the rest of the night." Fred told him.

"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"Too bad!" Fred and George said together as they started getting ready to climb into their own beds.

"Why can't you two go and room with Percy? He has a bigger room." Run muttered.

"Because Little Mr. Work Addict has all this important Ministry stuff to do and Dad thinks we would disturb him." Fred said.

"Don't know what gave him that idea…" George said thoughtfully.

"But we know how much you love having us in here, so we wouldn't switch even if we were given that opportunity."

"Lucky me." Ron said.

"I know. You should be thankful Ron." George told him. "Now good night." He switched off the light.

"George, did it ever occur to you that we, powerful as we are, do not possess the power to see the in dark and that I have no idea where my bed is now?" Fred asked.

"Nope. Oh well." He said as he started feeling his way back to bed. After he and Fred managed to find their beds, the room was silent for a few minutes.

"So Ron, are you going to greet Hermione with a kiss when she –" George began.

"OW!" Fred yelped as Ron's wand ricocheted off his forehead. "Ron you git! That wasn't me!"

"Oops. Sorry about that."


	5. Brotherly Love

Fred and George were the first ones awake in the morning, which was quite unusual. Fred looked over to George and said, "My head hurts."

"Why? Because we're up so early?"

"No, because Sleepy Head over there whacked me with his wand last night."

"Oh yeah."

"And it was all your fault."

"Yeah…I know." They sat in silence for a few seconds. "So what do you wanna do?"

"I don't know. It would be really nice if we could go and perfect the Canary Creams. We're so close! If only the feathers were yellow…"

"Yeah." George grinned. "Want to go and make sure Bill and Charlie haven't done anything evil to our room? Then we can grab the Canary Creams and head up to the attic or something."

"Great idea! But they're probably still asleep."

"So?"

"You're right." Fred grinned at his twin and they crept silently from their beds and made their way down to their room. Sure enough, as they cracked the door open, they saw that their older brothers were still sound asleep in their beds. They snuck silently into the room.

"Doesn't look like anything is messed up or out of place." George whispered.

"Check under your bed. That's where most of the stuff is hidden." Fred whispered back. "Make sure they didn't disturb anything. I'll check the closet." While Fred crept to the closet, George slowly sunk to his knees and deftly lifted the covers so he could look under the bed. As he did so, Bill, who was in George's bed, felt the movement in the blankets. He gasped and George stood up quickly. He opened his eyes blearily and moaned. "What are you doing in here?"

"Hey Bro, it's our room."

"Yeah, but your face isn't exactly the first thing I want to see in the morning."

"You don't think I'm pretty?" George sounded hurt.

"No." Bill muttered flatly.

"I bet you think Fred is pretty!" George cried.

"Whatever." Bill said as he closed his eyes again.

"Who are you talking to?" Charlie asked sleepily from Fred's bed.

"The Twinkies decided to pay us a little visit." Bill said into his pillow.

"_What_ did you call us?" Fred asked, stepping into the room.

"Nothing." Bill said heavily. "Will you two get out of here?"

"Now that's a bit hoity-toity of you. Kicking us out of our own room." George said.

"Excuse me for being hoity-toity. Now will you please get out of here?"

"Why should we?" Fred asked.

"Because we still want to sleep." Bill snapped.

"Oh you don't need to sleep." Fred replied.

"What time is it?" Charlie asked.

"Er…6:39." George said, looking at the clock on his wall.

"Dare I even ask what you two are doing wandering around the house at 6:39 _in the morning_?" Charlie mumbled.

"Well, we're not really wandering. We just came to make sure you two didn't corrupt our room." George explained.

"As if we could corrupt this room any more after you two have lived in it." Bill said.

"Hey! This was your room before we came along." George told him.

"Therefore I can kick you out if I want to since it originally belonged to me."

"Therefore it is through neither George or mine's fault that _you_ corrupted the room."

"_What_?" Bill asked, completely confused.

"I don't know." Fred shrugged. "It just seemed like the right thing to say."

"Yeah…sure…"

Around midday, Pig returned with Hermione's answer.

_Dear Ron,_

_How are you? I hope your summer is going well. I can't believe you got Box Seat Tickets to the Quidditch World Cup! Yes, I can come. I can't wait! It will be so wonderful to see you and Harry again. I wonder if he's heard from Sirius. I do hope he's taking care of himself and Buckbeak. Anyway, I will probably be arriving on Friday afternoon. Is that alright with you? If not, just send "Pig" back and let me know. (Why is his name Pig anyways?) Well, I am looking very forward to seeing you and Harry. Say hello to your family for me!_

_Love,_

Hermione

"Ooh! Ickle Ronniekins will be most pleased!" Fred said gleefully as he and George finished reading Hermione's letter. They found him degnoming the garden with Ginny, Bill, and Charlie.

"I don't know why you two want to help us." Ron grumbled to Bill and Charlie.

"Well, we haven't had to do this for so long." Bill said. "It's kind of fun, doing the stuff we used to do when we were younger."

"And it's fun because we can throw them farther than you can." Charlie said as he heaved a handful of gnomes a good 100 feet or more.

"Oh Lover-Boy! Your true love sends word!" George called out, waving the letter in his hand. Ginny giggled while Ron blushed furiously and grabbed the letter out of George's hand.

"Oh, is this the girl you were talking about last night?" Bill asked.

"Yep." Fred said.

"For the last time, she's _not_ my girlfriend!" Ron practically shouted.

"If she's not your girlfriend, then why are you denying it so forcefully?" Fred asked. Ron stared at him, looking ready to pop a vein.

"I'm denying it because _she's not my girlfriend_!"

"That really didn't make any sense you know." Ginny told Fred.

"Fine. She's not your girlfriend. You just wish she was." George said.

"Exact - What! I – no. No! I do not-" Ron was now blushing so hard that his siblings were snickering at him.

"Ron, it's ok. We're all guys here." Bill said as Ginny glared at him. "Well, most of us are. We understand."

"No you don't! You can't accept the fact that I have a friend who is a girl with no romantic interest whatsoever!" Ron said.

"Well Ron, if you weren't blushing so much-" Charlie started.

"I'm blushing because you all are making such a big bloody deal about it!"

"Oh Ronnie, we're your older brothers…and little sister. We know how your mind works." Fred told him.

"I'm not taking this humiliation anymore. I'm going in to write to Harry." Ron said.

"No! You have to stay out here. Mum said she really needed the garden degnomed." Ginny said.

"Fred and George can help you." Ron said.

"Actually we were just leaving." George said.

"It would go a lot faster if all 6 of us helped." Bill said reasonably.

"Still playing the Head Boy/Oldest Brother card, huh Bill?" Fred asked.

"Yep." Bill said as he seized about 5 or 6 gnomes. "Of course, I don't really get to boss anyone around at work, so I have to savor my few, precious moments that I get with you guys." They worked without speaking for a few minutes.

"This is boring." George grumbled.

"Maybe after this we can play Quidditch." Charlie suggested.

"Even after working with dragons, your head is still in the clouds." Bill remarked.

"After we eat. I'm starving." Ron said.

"Oh yeah, we haven't had lunch yet." George said.

"Oh yeah." Ginny rolled her eyes, wondering how her brothers could have forgotten. Finally, the degnoming process was over, and the six siblings went in for lunch, all hot and sweaty.

"Thank you so much." Mrs. Weasley said.

"No problem Mum." Bill smiled, trying to be extra nice to her so she wouldn't go on another rant about his earring. Molly smiled until she noticed Fred and George.

"What did I tell you two about leaving your joke wands lying about the house?" She asked.

"Er…Don't?" Fred asked.

"Very good Dear." She told him.

"Why? Did Dad pick one up again?" George asked.

"No. Percy did. Nearly gave him a heart attack too." She said as the Weasley children roared with laughter at the thought of their brother picking up a wand and it turning into a rubber chicken.

"Poor Percy." Fred laughed, not sounding like he meant it at all.

"What is he doing now? He barely said two words to us last night and by the time we woke up he was already gone." Charlie said.

"He's working at the Ministry of Magic." Molly began.

"He's Mr. Crouch's little yes-man." George butted in.

"George!" Molly scolded.

"Do you have a better way of putting it Mum?" Fred asked.

"Well…" Molly looked too ashamed to admit that she didn't.

"Hey, you were awake before Percy left." George said to Charlie. "You were awake at 6:39."

"True, but Bill and I, being normal human beings, went back to sleep." He said.

"What were you doing up at 6:39 in the morning?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, you two like to sleep until noon usually!" Ron said. "I thought I was dreaming when I woke up and saw that you weren't still in bed."

"Well, we don't sleep as well when we're not in our own beds." Fred explained.

"What about when you're at Hogwarts?" Bill asked.

"Let me rephrase that. We don't sleep as well knowing that our beds are being occupied by foreign bodies." Fred said.

"So you're saying that we, your brothers, are foreign bodies?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah." Fred and George nodded. Bill and Charlie looked at each other.

"Why?" Bill asked out of genuine curiosity.

"What? Why are you foreign bodies or why-"

"Why does it bother you that we're sleeping in your beds?"

"Because we're selfish and territorial and we don't want you touching our things." George said.

"That and we don't want you to break our beds." Fred said.

"So now you're accusing us of being fat. Thanks." Bill looked insulted.

"And now you're putting words in our mouths." George said.

"Ok, ok, ok, that's enough." Molly said. "Now I remember why I never cry when any of you go off to Hogwarts."

"You cried when I left the first time." Bill told her.

"Well yes, but that was my first time ever." Molly said. "But I don't think I've cried since."

"I liked it when you went off to Hogwarts because that meant I was the oldest at home." Charlie grinned.

"You know, I think I cried when you were born because that meant that I had to share Mum and Dad with someone else." Bill remarked.

"It's nice to know how much you appreciate each other." Ron said.


	6. Hermione arrives

Click…click…click…click

BANG!

Knock…Knock…Sizzle…Sizzle…Click…Click…

BANG!

"ENOUGH!" Ron cried, exasperated. "I've endured these weird noises since 9! It is now 2 o' clock in the bloody morning! What are you DOING!"

"Working." Fred and George replied.

"On what? What could possibly be so important that you have to work for 5 hours straight until 2 in the morning?"

"We are working on something that will one day change the world of boring schoolwork as you know it. Here, take a sip of this and tell us what you feel."

"No! I want to go to bed! Now!"

"Oh fine. I suppose you want to look your best when Hermione gets here tomorrow…or in a few hours."

"Will you two just let that drop? This has nothing to do with Hermione! I want to sleep like every other person should at this hour!"

"Fine Ronnie. But you know this means we'll be working until 5 tomorrow morning."

"Good night!"

"Good night." Fred and George said as one.

"What was going on last night?" Bill asked Fred and George the next morning (well, almost noon) as they stumbled into the family room in their pajamas.

"What are you talking about?" George asked innocently.

"We didn't hear a thing out of the ordinary." Fred said.

"So, clicks and explosions and yelling are to be expected when spending the night in this house?" Charlie asked.

"Of course…wow…it really has been a long time since you lived here." Fred commented. "How old are you now?"

"So where's Ron?" Bill asked. "I'm not going to go upstairs to find my youngest brother transfigured into an emu or anything, am I?"

"Sadly no, though he would look a lot better then…" Fred said thoughtfully.

"He's still up there sleeping."

"He got kind of upset with us last night…seemed to think we were being somewhat of a disturbance."

"Isn't his friend going to be here soon?" Charlie asked.

"I hope so." Ginny said, appearing in the door. "It's going to be so nice having a girl to converse with for a change."

"What, you don't think we're fun anymore Gin-Gin?" Bill asked.

"Bill…I'm 13, not 3." Ginny replied.

"You know, that does give me a fun idea…" Fred grinned evilly to George.

"You read my mind, my dear brother." George replied.

"Shall we?"

"Oh yes, we shall." Fred and George, snickering, headed upstairs.

"Where are they going?" Charlie asked.

"Or better yet, what are they going to do?" Bill asked.

"I learned a long time ago not to ask." Ginny replied.

Fred and George opened the door to Ron's room to find their younger brother tangled in his blankets with his foot hanging over the edge of his bed.

"Hey Ron, Hermione's here!"

"WHAT?" Ron yelled as he fell out of bed with a THUD. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I have to get dressed! I have to – What?" He asked as he noticed Fred and George howling with laughter. "What?" He asked again. As he realized that Fred and George had just been joking, he yelled, "You MORONS! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Fred and George, now with tears pouring down their cheeks, turned and went back downstairs to finish eating.

"What did you do?" Charlie asked as they reentered, still giggling.

"Oh, nothing." Fred replied.

"No, we heard a thud. You didn't turn Ron's pillow into a spider or anything, did you?" Bill asked.

"Oh no, that would have just been heartless. Even we're not that mean." George said.

"What did you do then?" Ginny asked.

"We told him Hermione was here."

"But…she's not." Bill told them.

"You don't miss a thing, do you Bill?" George asked.

"Why did you tell him she was here?" Charlie asked.

"Clearly we are the true evil masterminds of the family." Fred commented.

"No one's arguing with you there." Bill remarked. "So explain to us, the good children."

"Well you see-"

"I just heard a thud come form upstairs. What did you two do?" Molly asked the twins, suddenly appearing in the room.

"Now how come whenever anything happens it's automatically something that we did?" Fred asked.

"Because it always is something you did." Molly told them. "So tell me, what did you do?"

"We just told Ron something to get him up and going." George said innocently.

"Yeah, he needs to learn that it's impolite to sleep in until noon when there are guests in the house." Fred said.

"Say the boys who woke up about five minutes ago." Ginny commented.

"And we don't have any guests." Molly said, eying her twins strangely.

"Well, not yet. We will." Fred told her.

"He's got a point there Mum." George told her.

"Right, well Hermione could be here anytime now. Would you two please go up and get dressed? And tell Ron to get dressed while you're at it." Molly said.

"I'm already dressed." Ron said, arriving downstairs.

"Oh Ronniekins, you look absolutely dashing! Hermione will be most pleased." George teased.

"Of course, you're nowhere near as dashing as us." Fred said smugly, running a hand through his tousled hair.

"Yes, you're positively ravishing in your boxers." Bill told the twins sarcastically before Ron could protest.

"You think so too?" George asked him. Bill, Charlie, and Ron rolled their eyes as one.

"Will you two just get dressed?" Molly asked.

"But we haven't eaten anything yet." Fred whined, dropping the 'I'm too sexy' act.

"You can eat after you get dressed. Scoot!" Molly said.

Around two o'clock, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Ginny cried, running to the door. "Hermione!" She squealed.

"Hello Ginny!" Hermione smiled, embracing her friend.

"I am so happy to finally have a girl here. You have no idea what it's like living with _six _boys!" Ginny said excitedly.

"Oh, are your older brothers here?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah! Would you like to meet them?" Ginny asked.

"Sure."

"Great! I think they're all outside playing Quidditch. We'll take your stuff up to my room real quick and then we can go find them." Ginny said.

After Hermione's things were in Ginny's room, they headed outside. Sure enough, they found the five Weasley boys deeply engaged in a game of Quidditch.

"Ron! Hermione's here!" Ginny called.

"Hi Hermione!" Ron yelled. Fred and George exchanged significant smirks, but kept their remarks to themselves.

"Hi Ron!" She smiled and waved.

"Bill! Charlie! Come down here!" Ginny called. They landed. "This is my and Ron's friend, Hermione."

"Hey." Bill said shaking her hand and smiling.

"Nice to meet you." Charlie did the same.

"It's nice to meet you too." Hermione smiled, rather pink in the cheeks.

"Well, we'd love to chat, but we're in the middle of a game." Bill said.

"And losing." Charlie glared accusingly at Bill.

"Hey Mr. Quidditch Star, you know I'm a terrible athlete, but you said you would be on my team anyway."

"Because I felt sorry for you."

"I thought you said you were sure you and I could take them easily!"

"Well I thought we could, but obviously your Quidditch skills have not improved since you graduated."

"Charlie, were you really under the impression that I play Quidditch in what little spare time I have?"

"I do." Charlie shrugged.

"Oh well, I'm _shocked_." Bill said sarcastically.

"Do you see why I miss female companionship so much?" Ginny asked. Hermione giggled.

"Bill! Charlie! Come on!" George called.

"Yeah, you leave us up here any longer and we'll be older than you guys!" Fred joked.

"Oh, you two are going DOWN!" Bill shouted.

"Hey look! It's Hermione!" George pretended to have just noticed.

"HI HERMIONE!" Fred and George yelled.

"Hello." She waved.

"Well, would you girls like to watch us finish our game? It probably won't be long." Bill said.

"Want to?" Ginny asked.

"Sure." Hermione said.

"Here you go." Charlie said conjuring up a couple of lawn chairs.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Now-" He said, turning to Bill. "Let's try and save this game, shall we?"

"We shall indeed." They once again rose into the air. A few minutes later, Molly came out.

"Hello Hermione. It's so good to see you."

"Good to see you too Mrs. Weasley." She smiled.

"Are you two enjoying the game?"

"Yes."

"Bill and Charlie are getting slaughtered." Ginny told her mother.

"Wasn't Charlie Quidditch Captain?" Hermione asked.

"Oh yes. I'm sure this is a huge blow to his ego, being beaten by two 16-year-old Beaters and a 14-year-old who doesn't even play Quidditch." Molly sighed.

"Well, that's what he gets for letting Bill be on his team. Now if it were Charlie, Fred and George against Bill and Ron, wow. Bill and Ron would be _dead_." Ginny commented. "But then of course if this was a Chess competition, it would be a different story. Bill and Ron can beat anyone at Chess."

"They get that from their father. I don't know a rook from a knight. I'm surprised I even know what they're called!" Molly said.

"I love watching Ron and Harry play. Harry's getting better, but he's still no match for Ron." Hermione said. Ginny blushed at the mention of Harry's name. "Harry's coming, isn't he?"

"I don't know if Ron has written to him yet. I know he's going to." Molly said. "Ron!" She called. He looked her way. "Have you written to Harry yet?"

"Yeah! The letter's on my desk!" He yelled. He was playing Keeper and since he was distracted, he didn't notice their old, beaten up Quaffle soar right past him and through the hoop.

"Ron!" Fred and George groaned.

"YES!" Bill and Charlie gave each other a high-five.

"Wait! That's not fair! I was distracted!" Ron argued.

"It counts." Charlie told him.

"Mum was talking to me!"

"Still counts!"

"But-"

"Ron, be quiet. We don't even have a Keeper." Bill told him. The game lasted another thirty minutes before Bill and Charlie finally surrendered. However, they said they would only quit if a rematch was agreed upon.

That night after a delicious dinner, Ginny and Hermione sat in Ginny's room unpacking Hermione's things. Fred and George saw this as a perfect opportunity to test their newest prototype. Sticking pieces of flesh-colored string in their ears, they knelt down right in front of Ginny's door and whispered, "Go." The pieces of string crawled about a foot into Ginny's room, but for now, that was far enough.

"So how's your summer been?" Ginny asked.

"Not bad. I've seen a few friends that I know from Muggle school. Mostly, I've gotten all my schoolwork completed." Fred and George rolled their eyes. "How's yours been?"

"Pretty boring. There was one day that Fred and George decided to test one of their inventions on Percy. He turned into a giant purple canary. That was funny." Fred and George grinned triumphantly, although whishing that the feathers had been yellow.

"How long are Bill and Charlie staying?" Hermione asked.

"They both have time off until school starts. However," Ginny said, "They've both been acting as though they know something that rest of us don't. It's almost like they just want us to think they're going back."

"That's strange." Hermione said.

"Yeah, it's driving all of us crazy. Every time they say something, Percy scowls at them." Ginny told her.

"Ginny, I'm just wondering. Why do all of your brothers have to be so good looking?" Hermione asked. Ginny made a face. "Well, not Percy so much…"

"I though Fred and George drove you crazy."

"Well, yeah, they do. But the rest of them…"

"Especially Ickle Ronnkiekins, huh Hermione?" Fred called. Both he and George heaved with laughter as Ginny shrieked.

"FRED! GEORGE!" She slammed the door open to see her two older brothers laying chest down on the floor right in front of her room.

"Hello there, Gin-Gin." George said with a fetching smile.

"Lovely night for eavesdropping, eh Ginny?" Fred asked with an equally dashing smile.

"Get out of here." She growled.

"Right-o!" They both knew that Ginny had inherited her fiery temper from their mother, and they both knew better than to provoke it, especially when her wand was within her grasp.

To be continued…_The Goblet of Fire_ movie totally rocks…too bad Bill and Charlie weren't in it though!


End file.
